Nigel Edwards of the Nuffield Trust think tank said the NHS was "dangerously" short of staff.

"In some ways, the lack of crucial workers in the NHS is an even bigger problem than the lack of funding.

"We can sign a cheque and bring back more money on-stream if the will is there, but there is no button to push which will suddenly bring us tens of thousands of qualified extra staff."

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Janet Davies added: "All the evidence shows that standards of patient care rise and fall as nurse numbers do.

"That was the lesson from Mid Staffordshire and we cannot afford to forget it."

Ian Dalton, head of NHS Improvement, the regulator that released the accounts, said the health service was working hard to tackle the problems.

He said staff deserved "heartfelt thanks" for their hard work.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We are supporting staff to improve work/life balance by working more flexibly and have announced the biggest ever expansion of training places for both doctors and nurses."